Credit Card Churning – Quarter 1 Update
Category : Uncategorized
Quarter 1 of 2016 will be coming to a close and I wanted to provide my lovely readers with an update on where I am with card churning this year.
Here’s my results from the first three months of 2015:
| 2015 | ||
| Bank | Card | Bonus |
| Chase | Southwest Plus | 50,000 |
| Chase | Southwest Premier | 50,000 |
| Chase | Marriott | 80,000 |
| AMEX | Delta Gold | 50,000 |
| AMEX | Business Gold | 75,000 |
| BofA | Alaska | 25,000 |
| BofA | Alaska | 25,000 |
| Chase | United Mileage Plus | 50,000 |
| Citi | AAdvantage Gold | 25,000 |
| Barclays | U.S. Airways | 50,000 |
| Totals | 10 Cards | 480,000 |
And the results from the past three months of 2016:
| 2016 | ||
| Bank | Card | Bonus |
| AMEX | Business Platinum | 100,000 |
| AMEX | EveryDay Preferred | 15,000 |
| AMEX | Hilton Surpass | 80,000 |
| BOFA | Alaska | 25,000 |
| Citi | AA Business | 50,000 |
| Chase | British | 100,000 |
| Citi | Hilton | 75,000 |
| Chase | Fairmont | 2 nights |
| Chase | British | 100,000 |
| Chase | IHG | 80,000 |
| AMEX | SPG | 35,000 |
| AMEX | BRG | 80,000 |
| Citi | Hilton | 75,000 |
| Totals | 14 Cards | 815,000, 2 nights |
Where’s the Difference?
335,000 points, 2 nights and 4 credit cards.
What attributed to the substantial gain this first quarter over Q1 2015? Three, 100,000 sign-up bonuses.
The British Airways bonus is:
- Tiered bonus: 50,000 points after spending $2000 within three months; 25,000 more points after hitting $10,000 spent; then 25,000 more points after hitting 20,000 spent.
- Public
- High spend
The American Express Business Platinum
- High spend
- Targeted
What Cards To Get Now?
Remember, there are some limited time offers that include the SPG, Marriott and Hilton cards (all those have been applied for in either or both years) and some others that I applied for because of anticipated use.
Other cards, like AMEX cards which earn Membership Rewards are always valuable because they can be transferred to multiple partners.
Some of these points and spend are still pending or in the process, but Q2 and Q3 for me this year (yes I’ve planned them out) will be slow for me for a variety of reasons, but I’ll certainly pick it back up in the end of Q3 and throughout Q4 to probably come to the same amount as last year.
Want to how to churn? Concerned about credit score? Read these informative articles:
What are your churning plans for this year? This month?
-The Miner
2 Comments
Mike
April 4, 2016 at 6:48 pmThat’s a great quarter! I wish I had the bandwidth to hit those BA and Business Platinum spends! Couple questions:
I’m assuming that these results are for 2 people?
What was your logic settling for the EDP at 15k? That’s hard for me to justify with the $95 annual fee not waived first year and $20 in opportunity cost for the min spend ($1000 * 2%).
I too got the 80k Surpass this quarter and am thinking of trying to get it matched to the current 100k offer (didn’t bother trying to match to 85k). Are you going to try to get it matched? What has been your experience?
M. Czarka
April 4, 2016 at 9:44 pmHi Mike,
Good questions. And yes, the hurdles for the BA cards will be difficult but o have a year to earn them both.
Re: EDP: having a AMEX card that can be downgraded to a no fee AMEX next year for transfer purposes is useful. Also, the ability to earn 50% bonus if 30 purchases are made has worked out for me every month so far.
For surpass (sorry I’m behind posts!!), I will be calling AMEX and I’ll post an article by Doctor of Credit on how to be matched.